Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...the Labor Day Weekend edition!

...While paging through a 2007 McFarland catalogue today, I came across UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL WESTERNS, 1947-1963: THE COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY by Gene Blottner. This subject is of great interest but, like most books from this publisher, the price is a bit steep. I'd love feedback on the book if anyone has read it.

...Amazon and Redbox have plans to offer online movie streaming to compete with Netflix.

...Why hasn't GEORGE WASHINGTON (1984) come out on DVD yet? It was a terrific TV-movie with Barry Bostwick in the title role. Take a look at the supporting cast: Lloyd Bridges, Hal Holbrook, Trevor Howard, Richard Kiley, James Mason, Jose Ferrer, Robert Stack, Patty Duke, Jaclyn Smith, and Rosemary Murphy. It's only had a VHS release.

...Swingsets are disappearing from some schools and parks due to fear of litigation over possible injuries. I fell off monkey bars at a park and broke my wrist when I was eight, but I got a cast and life went on. Our nation is lawsuit-happy, and the resulting paranoia is leading to all sorts of unhappy changes. One example among many: the ugly new railings along the exterior track at Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland ride. One wonders how the ride and Disney employees survived over half a century without them!

...Actress Joan Fontaine is funding refurbishment of the Lilian Fontaine Garden Theatre in Saratoga, California. The theater, which is nearly a century old, was renamed for Lilian Fontaine in 1978. Lilian Fontaine was the mother of Joan Fontaine, who will be 93 next month, and Olivia deHavilland, who is 94. (Via KC at Classic Movies.)

...Greenbriar Picture Shows takes a photo-filled look at the films in the Errol Flynn Adventures DVD set.

...Also at Greenbriar, I came across this interesting post on THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL (1954) with a great cast photo.

...Lou Lumenick recently reviewed a number of interesting Kay Francis and William Powell films available from the Warner Archive. I do wish he had also reviewed the quality of the Archive DVD-Rs. He does mention that the print of William Powell and Jean Arthur's THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD (1936) is a nice transfer, which was good to hear.

...Thanks to changing technology, hotels are no longer making money charging for phone calls and movies on demand... When my husband goes on business trips, he takes along DVDs to watch on his laptop. He's obviously not the only one.

...Alfred Hitchcock Geek takes a brief look at some of the lesser-known actresses who appeared most frequently in Hitchcock's films.

...Fans of GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) have raised over $30,000 to preserve five of Vivien Leigh's costumes. The gowns are part of the Selznick Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, and they will be displayed in 2014 to celebrate the film's 75th anniversary.

...I came across this 2007 post on a Life Magazine article on nine starlets of 1937 while looking for information on Barbara Read.

...It looks like a political tidal wave is headed to Washington this November.

...I was happy to discover a new post by our old friend J.C. Loophole over at The Shelf this Labor Day weekend. Welcome back!

Have a great holiday weekend!